The Government has pledged to halve the disability employment gap by 2020. At the time of the Government’s recent Green Paper on work, health and disability, the disability employment rate was 48% while for non-disabled people it was 80%. Halving the gap therefore means increasing the disability employment rate to 64%. But the autism employment gap is even wider, with a recent National Autistic Society survey indicating that only 32% of autistic people are in some form of work – and just 16% in full time paid work.

The petition coincides with the end (last Friday) of the public consultation on Government proposals to improve the disability employment rate. The National Autistic Society says that autistic people can be a real asset to businesses and has warned the Government not to leave them behind.

More than 1 in 100 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum, including around 450,000 autistic people of working age. Being autistic means you see, hear and feel the world in a different, often more intense way from others. Autistic people often find social situations difficult, can struggle to process information quickly and may be highly sensitive to sound or light or smells.

This can make finding and staying in a job difficult. But the National Autistic Society says that many of these difficulties can be overcome when employers understand autism and make small adjustments to the interview process and workplace.

Cheryl Gillan, MP for Chesham and Amersham and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism, said:

“I am proud to present this important petition to the Government.

“I’ve met so many talented autistic people who, despite their best efforts, feel locked out of work. With more understanding from employers and improved support, we can change this and they can make a huge contribution to our society and economy.

“I strongly urge the Government to remember this as they develop proposals to improve the disability employment rate. We need to give autistic people a chance.”

Mark Lever, Chief Executive of the National Autistic Society, said:

“Almost 30,000 people have sent the Government a powerful message, urging them to show leadership and close the autism employment gap once and for all – and to give autistic people the chances they deserve.

“A growing number of employers, like GCHQ and Microsoft, are actively looking to employ autistic people who can have strengths such as tenacity and thinking differently. But many businesses tell us they don’t know where to go for support and they’re worried about getting it wrong.

“The Government’s upcoming White Paper on improving the disability employment rate is an opportunity to open up the workplace for autistic people. They must listen to the voices of autistic people, including the 29,090 people who’ve signed our petition, and introduce autism-specific support to help autistic people to find and stay in work.

“Not all autistic people are able to work. But many are and are desperate to find a job which reflects their talent and interests. With a little understanding and small adjustments to the workplace, autistic adults can be a real asset to businesses across the UK.”

Arran Linton-Smith, 61, is a senior consultant in the construction industry and was one of the campaigners who delivered the petition to the Government.

Arran said:

“I’ve had a very bumpy career, holding a range of different jobs and struggling in a number of them.

“A turning point came five years years ago, when I was diagnosed as autistic. It took a while for me to accept the diagnosis but, when I did, all the problems I’d had in the workplace started making sense.

“I took the difficult decision to disclose this at work. To my surprise everyone was so understanding and people started to realise that my different way of seeing things was a huge asset − I was able to spot problems and come up with solutions that weren’t even being considered.

“While I’m now in a good position and feel respected I know that many autistic people aren’t so lucky. I feel I’ve got a duty to hold open the door to the next generation of autistic people, so I was proud to be involved in this campaign and to present this important petition to the Government.

“There’s a vast untapped pool of talented individuals out there who can help businesses and other employers become stronger and more competitive.”

For more information about the National Autistic Society, visit www.autism.org.uk.

People living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland whose care in their own home is funded by the NHS because of their complex healthcare needs will be faced with the prospect of accepting a drastic reduction to their care funding if a planned proposal is not opposed and rejected. Details are HERE.

The local NHS are amending  their ‘Settings of Care’ policy which will mean anyone they currently support with care in their own home will have their care package reviewed and reduced. The NHS is proposing to drastically cut the amount of money spent on providing Continuing Healthcare (CHC) in Leicestershire and Rutland. Highly vulnerable people living in the community with complex healthcare needs, such as people paralysed by a spinal cord injury (SCI), will be affected by the NHS policy, which includes:

• Capping the amount of money they spend on providing care in an individual’s home to  what it would cost for them to be looked after in a nursing home
• Applying the policy to both people newly eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare and those already living in the community with NHS CHC eligibility. It could mean, for example, newly paralysed individuals never returning home from hospital and spending the rest of their lives in a nursing home
• Applying the policy irrespective of whether the NHS commission the care through a care agency or provide the funding as a Personal Health Budget Direct Payment. This could mean vulnerable people already living at home being put in jeopardy by having to reduce their care make carers redundant and rely on family members to take over part of the care.

SIA believes that this is a fundamentally unfair and cruel policy targeting some of the most vulnerable members of society.  It undermines disabled people’s fundamental rights to dignity, a family life and to not be incarcerated in an institution against their will.  What’s more, we believe that if the NHS in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are allowed to get away with introducing such a regressive policy other local NHS bodies may see it as an ‘easy win’ to save money and try to introduce similar policies across the country.

We need to stop this policy from being implemented and this is why we ask for your help. We need everyone concerned about the dignity and safety of disabled people living in Leicestershire and Rutland to contact SIA urgently and join our campaign to stop this regressive and coercive policy from being introduced.

Join our campaign by emailing us at campaigning@spinal.co.uk with your details and we will get back to you immediately.

SIGN OUR PETITION HERE: https://www.change.org/p/east-leicestershire-and-rutland-ccg-stop-the-nhs-slashing-vulnerable-people-s-care-packages-in-and-around-leicestershire.

Just 3 out of 23 sports open to athletes with a learning disability – Mencap petition calls for more events to be opened up.

8% of medals (12 out of 147) won by Team GB at the Paralympics were won by athletes with a learning disability, despite them making up just 3% of the overall Team GB. This success adds extra urgency to Mencap’s petition asking the International Paralympics Committee to increase the number of events athletes with a learning disability are allowed to compete in.

Currently athletes with a learning disability are allowed to compete for just 18 out of 528 gold medals. There have been concerns around a lack of demand among athletes with a learning disability to compete at elite levels, however the number of medals won by Team GB athletes with a learning disability proves this wrong.

Over 260 disabled athletes went to Rio as part of the GB team, and just seven of these were athletes with a learning disability. Despite the small number selected, athletes with a learning disability contributed 4 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze medals to the team’s overall record tally.

Swimmer Jessica-Jane Applegate, who is an ambassador for Mencap, won 2 silver and 1 bronze medals in her events, which included 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley and 100m backstroke.

Currently, athletes with a learning disability can only compete in 3 out of the 23 Paralympic sports. Within those 3 sports, there are just 9 events open to athletes with a learning disability. Prior to the start of the Paralympics, Mencap launched a petition to the International Paralympic Committee calling for more events to be opened up to athletes with a learning disability, which has received over 3,600 signatures to date.

Harry Roche, who has a learning disability, said:

“All of the athletes who competed at the Paralympics did fantastically. I’d like to say a huge congratulations to all of the athletes with a learning disability who took part and won a medal. I’ve really enjoyed watching the Paralympics this year, it has been really good to watch athletes with a learning disability do so well.

“I really hope that at the next Paralympics we will see even more athletes with a learning disability take part in a larger number of events. It is unfair that athletes with a learning disability can only compete in 3 out of the 23 sports. The Paralympics has shown that there is a lot of talent and there needs to be more opportunities made available. We must overcome these barriers as soon as possible.”

They and leading eye health organisation the Local Optical Committee Support Unit (LOCSU) are calling for an urgent overhaul of the system as there are huge levels of sight problems amongst people with learning disabilities and people are currently missing out on the eye care they need. Some are even tragically losing their sight.

SeeAbility’s report, ‘Delivering an equal right to sight’, finds numbers in England are at their highest level yet:

• one in ten of the learning disability population will be blind or partially sighted
• six in ten people with learning disabilities will need glasses
• studies indicate four in ten of the 100,000 children in special schools have never had a sight test and up to half of adults with learning disabilities have not had their eyes tested in the recommended period
• Children with learning disabilities are 28 times more likely to have a serious sight problem than other children

“The system needs to be designed around the needs of people with learning disabilities, rather than putting barriers in their way,” says Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE, who is hosting the report launch in parliament.

“It makes much more sense for people to be supported to get low cost early eye care rather than end up losing their independence and relying on high cost care and support because their vision is impaired.”

People with learning disabilities, their families and supporters are being asked to sign a petition calling on NHS England to deliver a more inclusive system and offer free sight tests for all working age people with learning disabilities.

Sight tests not only help people get the glasses they need, they can identify serious sight threatening conditions like cataracts and glaucoma. There is currently no NHS plan for eye care and little mention of the high risk of sight problems or the need for checks in new national learning disability strategies.

The current NHS contract for sight tests fails to recognise that people are likely to need additional time or appointments to complete a sight test, as well as better support with glasses. Those of working age may not be eligible for NHS funded sight tests, unlike other high risk groups which are, such as those with a family history of glaucoma.

Supporting the call for national approach, Katrina Venerus, speaking on behalf of the Optical Confederation, said:

“Despite pockets of good practice where the LOCSU learning disabilities eye care pathway has been introduced, it’s clear that local commissioning is not working and people with learning disabilities are missing out on potentially life-changing sight tests. A national approach is what required.”
SeeAbility also says there needs to be awareness training in health and social care on the risks and signs of a sight problem in people with learning disabilities. Eye care services need to provide accessible information and reasonable adjustments, and the report features projects across the country supporting people with learning disabilities that others can learn from, including SeeAbility’s work to deliver sight tests and glasses to children in special schools.

Another example is a recent pathway of eye care for adults with learning disabilities in Barking and Dagenham. Maureen Rose campaigned for better awareness and eye care after her daughter, Sally, who has the rare genetic condition 18P Syndrome, lost most of her vision due to glaucoma. In her words, “nobody had told us Sally’s learning disability came with an increase risk of sight problems”, but the pathway is now preventing this from happening to others in the borough.*

Scott Watkin, SeeAbility’s Eye Care and Vision Development Officer, will be sharing his personal experience of eye care in parliament. Scott has a learning disability and a serious eye condition, keratoconus, that has been treated but still needs monitoring. It was first spotted in his special school and Scott says:

“Just because I have a learning disability it doesn’t mean my sight isn’t as important as anyone else’s. I have a job and a young family, and things would be much more difficult for me if my sight hadn’t been saved – but I was lucky.”

SeeAbility’s new report ‘Delivering an equal right to sight’ and a link to the petition is available at www.seeability.org/equalrighttosight.

Left to right: son Jordon , Christopher & daughter Tayla 

Father Christopher Wood, started a petition recently to enable wheelchair users who are unable to transfer to an airplane seat to be allowed to travel in their chairs.

Christopher’s two children, Tayla (23) and Jordan (21), are young who both have disabilities leaving limited speech and mobility. Both of his children like many others with disabilities have severe difficulties in access to air travel, especially if there is limited or no mobility without wheelchair use.

Chris says: “My Son and many many others like him cannot access air travel as he needs to remain in his wheelchair at all times. To transfer a young adult from his chair to a seat requires a hoist, furthermore the seat is not designed to meet his posture and he will be in major discomfort whilst flying.”

If you’re disabled you have certain rights if travelling by air. According to Citizens Advice UK, if you have a disability or have reduced mobility that affects your ability to get about, you have certain rights under the Equality Act 2010 and also under European Union law.

Christopher with son Jordan

The current Act prohibits commercial airlines from discriminating against passengers with disabilities. However it has no provision to protect the rights of those who, because of their disabilities and for safety reasons, cannot sit in a standard airline passenger seat so must remain seated in their personal wheelchairs.

The USA have a petition to push the Federal Aviation Association to require airlines to provide designated wheelchair accessible spaces on every commercial aircraft, which will allow passengers to remain safely seated in their personal wheelchairs. This is an issue which has gained immense support, currently with an excess of 35k signatures, www.petitions.moveon.org/sign/wheelchair-access-on.

This has inspired Christopher to start his own petition in the UK, he comments:

“I am on a bit of a mission here, but I am not so small minded to think that overnight aircrafts will suddenly have disabled toilets, and aisles wide enough to let a wheelchair travel up. But it can make an area/space for wheelchairs to be clamped in safely and travel, the rest can come in due course – perhaps for the next generation behind my two children.

“If you can help my mission in any way I would of course be very grateful. I think it’s time this area of discrimination in air travel was extinguished for good – if you think that is a harsh sentence then lets phrase it like this.”

So far Christopher’s petition has taken off and is well under way with over 1,200 signatures, but he still needs your help to reach 10k signatures to ensure the UK government responds. You can sign and share Christopher’s petition here www.petition.parliament.uk/petitions/125577, to help improve services and accessibility for disabled air passengers.

The Community Action Party based in Greater Manchester holds documentation and information given to them by Members of Parliament which states that the scale of the cuts being imposed on disabled people in this parliament alone is estimated at £8.6 Billions.

Community Action Party bosses believe these figures exclude the additional planned cuts to be imposed on disabled people from 2015 onwards. It was revealed that the scrapping of Disability Living Allowance will result in 500,000 disabled people who currently receive help, will either have their help stopped or reduced making massive savings for the government which Community Action Party sources say for this parliament will be £8.6 Billions.

At the same time the Conservative and Liberal Coalition government have awarded contracts worth tens of millions of pounds to companies like ATOS who are controversially given the task of undertaking medical tests which many believe have been designed to remove more people from Disability Benefits.

A petition has been submitted on HM Government epetition website by the Deputy Leader of the Community Action Party Michael Moulding which states :-

“Stop the Abolition of Disability Living Allowance for Personal Independence Payments

Responsible department: Department for Work and Pensions

The government intends to abolish Disability Living Allowance and replace it with Personal Independence Payments. We feel the government is doing this because it is clear by awarding the contract to assess Personal Independence Payments to ATOS, it is a means to make savage cuts welfare to the most vulnerable in society. We believe peoples lives will be lost as a result of the scrapping of DLA for Personal Independence Payments assessed by ATOS.”

The petition has so far collected well over 4,000 signatures in just a few weeks and if 100,000 is achieved the petition may force parliament to consider the issues. The petition expires in September 2013.

The Leader of the Community Action Party Peter Franzen (above) which has its head office based in Wigan, Greater Manchester is urging everyone to sign the petition.

Peter Franzen says “The evidence is absolutely clear. The government is making these changes to make savage cuts and not to make the system fairer. It is clear that even members of Parliament believe many people living with disability or illness will in future not get the help they need.”

“This campaign is a first step because we believe all parties in Westminster – Tory, Liberal & Labour are complicit in what is happening and we want to achieve the 100,000 so that all of us are then able to pressurise all MP’s to ensure the voices of disabled people are heard. At present, they are getting lip service.”

To sign the online petition click the link – http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38182

To follow this and other campaigns for the Community Action Party on Facebook –http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/COMMUNITYACTIONPTY

Community Action Party website – http://www.community-action.com/

Courtesy of the Manchester Gazette